Voyageur's Best Features of 2006

Shortly after crossing the finish line in 4th place at
the Section 7A Cross Country meet in Cloquet, Cromwell~Floodwood runner Sarah
Chasson reached into her bag and pulled out a medal. It wasn’t the medal she
would earn on this day, but the medal her grandfather Don Miller earned at his
conference meet in 1946. Don ran for Washington High School in St. Paul.

The inspirational medal was given to Sarah prior to the
Section meet. “I didn’t even know he was a cross country runner,” Sarah said.

The inspiration paid off because Sarah placed 4th overall
and will advance to the State meet scheduled at 10:00 Saturday, November 4, at
St. Olaf College in Northfield.

Sarah, who is just a freshman at Floodwood High School,
shared that this race went a lot better than she thought it would. “It was
fun,” she said. “I wanted to stay with Esko. It’s what I wanted all year.”

Sarah did just that. She ran with the Esko’s Kaycee
Knutson and Abby Nelson for most of the race. Kaycee got away from her midway
through the final loop, and Abby caught Sarah near the end of the race.

One Ely runner would also pass Sarah on a sprint to the
finish. Regardless, Sarah finished with a time of 15:59.7 and a 4th place
finish.

Another freshman, Jordan Smith, will also advance to the
state meet on Saturday. Jordan is a two sport athlete and despite not
participating in one cross country practice this season, he snuck in the top
ten.

Jordan’s time of 17:33.6 was good enough for 10th place.
Jordan’s sprint to the finish turned out to be a battle for 8th, 9th and 10th
place. He was in a battle with Cook County-Silver Bay runner Noah Prinsen and
Rush City’s Josh Dahl. Noah just edged Josh, and Josh just edged Jordan. Just a
half second separated the three runners.

The close race produced a few emotions. At first Jordan
was convinced that he placed 11th. It wasn’t until the results were posted that
he felt relief.

“I heard I was 11th, and I wasn’t very happy,” Jordan
said.

Jordan’s goal during the race was to stay more consistent
and make that top ten. “I didn’t want to burn myself out on that first lap,” he
said. “I wanted to do best on the second lap.”

The second lap turned out to be a key for Jordan. He had
just enough reserve to secure a top-ten finish.

Even though Jordan hasn’t been practicing with the team,
he has been training. “On the weekends, I would run for an hour easy one day
and an hour hard the next,” Jordan concluded.

The Cromwell~Floodwood boys did compete as a team. They
finished 12th among 17 teams.

Following Jordan for Cromwell~Floodwood was Kyle House in
68th, Curtis Hakala in 69th, John Ammesmaki in 77th, Eric Arnold in 84th,Jordan Hackensmith in 115th, and Ryan Beck in
117th.

The McGregor boys did not compete as a team, but they had
a few individual performances. Mychal Hadrich placed 54th, Tash Chamberlin
placed 86th, and Tony Jirava placed 95th.